2003 Federal Register Items (January - December)

The Federal Register is a daily publication used to provide notice of proposed or final changes to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), including the regulations of the Bureau of the Public Debt. The Federal Register is also used to provide other important information or requests for information. The most important items relating to the Bureau of the Public Debt published in the Federal Register from January 2003 through December 2003 are listed below. You will leave this site if you choose to access these Federal Register publications.

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ACTION: Proposed Rule.
Treasury today published in the Federal Register a proposed rule amendment to the Uniform Offering
Circular. This proposed rule solicits comments on an amendment to the auction rules to convert the UOC to
plain language. The amendment would make the auction rules easier to understand and would make certain
minor modifications to conform the rules to current practices. Comments are due by February 23, 2004.

ACTION: Final Rule.
In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Department of the
Treasury exempts a Bureau of the Public Debt system of records entitled
“Treasury/BPD.0009 - U.S. Treasury Securities Fraud Information System” from certain provisions
of the Privacy Act.

ACTION: Final Rule.
The Bureau of the Public Debt (Public Debt) is issuing regulations governing Depositary Compensation
Securities that will be used to compensate financial agents for work performed on behalf of the Department
of the Treasury.

Fee Schedule for the Transfer of U.S. Treasury Book-Entry Securities Held on the National Book-Entry
System

ACTION: Notice. The Department of the Treasury is announcing a new fee schedule for the transfer
of book-entry securities maintained on the National Book-Entry System (NBES). This fee schedule will take
effect on July 1, 2003. The basic fee for the transfer of a Treasury book-entry security will be $.21,
a 22 percent fee reduction from fees in effect since January 2, 2003. The Federal Reserve funds movement
fee will remain unchanged at $.05. These changes will result in a combined fee of $.26 for a Treasury
security transfer. Off-line transfer fees will remain unchanged.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Privacy Act System of Records.
To ensure that the Treasury name and its products are protected from fraudulent transactions, Public Debt
proposes to maintain records on entities and individuals who are potentially involved in questionable
or illegal transactions and practices relating to Treasury securities and other U.S. obligations. These
records might, but do not necessarily have to, include allegations of administrative, civil or criminal
misconduct, from any source.

ACTION: Final rule.
At its initial implementation, the only Treasury security that could be held in New Treasury Direct
was the book-entry Series I savings bond. We are now adding the book-entry Series EE savings bond
to the system. We revised the regulations governing book-entry Treasury securities held in the
New Treasury Direct system by adding the Series EE savings bond to the subpart dealing with the
Series I savings bond. This subpart now covers both Series I and Series EE book-entry savings bonds.

ACTION: Final rule; correction.
We published a final rule in the Federal Register of January 17, 2003, increasing the period of
time that owners of United States Series EE and I Savings Bonds must hold their bonds before the
bonds are eligible for redemption. The mandatory holding period increased from 6 months to 12 months
for bonds purchased on or after February 1, 2003. Although the rule correctly references the February 1, 2003
date for bonds affected by the increased holding period, the rule stated that bonds issued December 1, 2002,
or earlier, are unaffected by the change and continue to retain the 6 months holding period. The rule should
have stated that bonds issued January 1, 2003, or earlier, will continue to retain the 6 months holding
period. This document corrects that misstatement.

ACTION: Final rule.
The purpose of this final rule is to amend regulations offering and governing United States Savings
Bonds to require that owners hold their bonds 12 months before they are eligible for redemption
instead of 6 months. This change affects Series EE and I United States Savings Bonds issued January
2003 or later. This change is being made to discourage investing in savings bonds for short terms,
and to better align the effective return on savings bonds with short-term marketable Treasury
security yields.